"The Sopranos" took aim Sunday at its final Emmy Awards while "Heroes" and "Ugly Betty" made a stand for television's new generation.

The mob saga, which ended its six-season run in June, was competing for best drama series and was prominent in the acting categories, with stars James Gandolfini and Edie Falco and supporting players Michael Imperioli, Aida Turturro and Lorraine Bracco up for honors.

"The Sopranos" wasn't a sure bet for the top trophy, which it claimed in 2004: It's rarely gone to a drama after it's off the air. The series also faced tough rivals that included "Grey's Anatomy," the controversy-rocked medical drama, and sci-fi freshman hit "Heroes."

Last year's winner, "24," was snubbed in the nominations.

Newcomer "Ugly Betty," the high-camp series adapted from a Colombian telenovela, was nominated for best comedy and drew a bid for star America Ferrera. Another freshman comedy, "30 Rock," which has drawn critical raves but low ratings, and last year's winner "The Office" also were vying for the comedy crown.

Ryan Seacrest of "American Idol" fame was to host the 59th annual Primetime Emmy Awards show, set to air on Fox from the downtown Shrine Auditorium.

Fans started arriving early Sunday afternoon, filling a set of bleachers overlooking the red carpet.

The usually staid ceremony had a shot at some MTV-style brashness: There were hints that Justin Timberlake might perform the song from "(Blank) in a Box," the racy "Saturday Night Live" fake music video about a gift-wrapped part of the male anatomy.

Watching via Comcast in NYC. Looks and sounds great (other than that weird cutaway during Ray Romano -- which i assume was either an egregious master control error or Ray said or did something that was caught by the tape delay police).

This show looks stunning in comparison to Sunday Night Football. In fact the preshow looks better than what NBC has on the air right now, and that's just said. Granted the Emmys has a much bigger budget (and they obsess over how a certain shot will look in HD) than a SNF game, the techincal talent pool however still is as good as it gets for both productions. It's somewhat a shame NBC cant get its issues straightened out considering they are probably winning the ratings war tonight.

Yes...when Katherine Heigl won she mouthed the word "sh-t" and the shot went immediately to the big ball.

I'm surprised Fox isn't censoring all the Bush jokes.

The only censoring that should occur is the obvious curse words. If this production is picking and choosing other things than that is very wrong. We won't know until later if Ray Romano actually said a bad word.

Yea that Tony Bennett thing completely fell flat. If you've ever seen the Tony Bennett DVD that the original act is from (and what Rob Marshall won the Emmy for) its exceptionally nicely done, but in the context of the middle of an awards show, especially one trying to be hip and trendy, it just fell completely flat.

The only censoring that should occur is the obvious curse words. If this production is picking and choosing other things than that is very wrong. We won't know until later if Ray Romano actually said a bad word.

They should blare the music or cut the audio if any of them go off topic. Thank who you want to thank and get your butts off the stage so these shows don't stretch into the wee hours of the morning.